173 + 174 + 175 + 176 = 698 so it is the sum of four consecutive numbers.

698 is a palindrome in two different bases:

22322 BASE 4; note 2(256) + 2(64) + 3(16) + 2(4) + 2(1) = 698

585 BASE 11; note 5(121) + 8(11) + 5(1) = 698

And 698 is a permutation of 689, the number of my most viewed post of all time. I wrote that post a week ago on Tuesday, and all it contained was some interesting information about the number 689. There was nothing earth shattering in it.

However, Wednesday evening, Denise Gaskins shared that 689th post on her facebook page, Let’s Play Math. (She has so many good things on her facebook page.)

The 17 shares you see on this facebook post is NOT the whole picture; it is only the beginning.

Other than my homepage/archives, my most viewed post has now become “What Makes 689 Amazing” It has also been shared on facebook over 2000 times!

Here is the breakdown of the number of views it received each day:

Usually most of my views come from the United States and the United Kingdom, but there was a definite although temporary shift last week. Here are the four top counties viewing this blog from last Thursday to Sunday:

I was quite puzzled by why this blog post went viral in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Perhaps Alan Parr’s (wbhs1962) comment about a funny experience with the number 689 broke the ice. Eventually a few readers from Hong Kong and Taiwan enlightened me about the viral interest in this particular number. Those comments were all quite fascinating and an educational experience for me. I invite you to read them as well.